The kid speaks Hebrew.

We are presently playing host to a wonderful student from Ort Yad Singalovski and will be for the next week. The kids are having a great time getting to know each other and creating a special connection between America and Israel.

Our Israeli student speaks English very well; however, there are sometimes when we speak too fast or our grammar is poor, and it is clear that communication is not there. In those situations, my son, with his 9.5 years of a Kadima education, immediately steps in and starts speaking Hebrew to the student. It's pretty incredible. My son is 13 and he speaks and understands two languages: English and Hebrew. Indeed, last night a group of them were speaking Hebrew and my son was participating, laughing, and clearly understanding what was going on. An old language teacher of mine once said that you really know a language when you can listen to background speakers talking in another language and understand completely what they are saying. I think that my son is almost there; and we have Kadima to thank for it.

The kids are going to see the Sacramento Kings play the Clippers tonight because, in a remarkable coincidence, the Clippers are playing the Sacramento Kings, and the Kings have the only Israeli player ever to make it to the NBA--Omri Casspi. So the Clippers are honoring Israel tonight, and there will be lots of Israeli flags in the stands. We'll be there too, cheering and singing HaTikvah.

The experience thus far has been interesting; the cultural differences between Israeli Jews and American Jews can be significant. But for the kids, in the end, they are all kids. And they are really enjoying being with each other.